System and method for communicating with an out of service telephone number

ABSTRACT

A method for communicating with a subscriber having a first telephone number that is out-of-service comprises providing a database that is accessible at least through a second telephone number, and allowing the subscriber to access the database to post a message. The message is made available to an interested party. A system for a subscriber to communicate with an interested party is also provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to communication systems, and moreparticularly to a system and method for communicating with anout-of-service telephone number.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telephone calls remain a desirable manner of communication despite theproliferation of alternative mediums. Because a called party is notalways available to answer a call, a variety of methods have beendeveloped to record messages intended for the called party. Answeringmachines, voice mail systems, and to a lesser extent answering servicesare all well known to modern telephone users. All of these systems,however, require that the called telephone number be operational.

Telecommunication systems have also been proposed to address situationsin which circuits are unavailable to complete a telephone call. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,974 shows an emergency telephonecommunications system that allows communications during congestion inthe event of disaster. This patent suggests that when exchanges areoverloaded due to simultaneous calling by a majority of subscribersduring emergency situations, the subscribers may send messages abouttheir safety to important parties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention arereadily apparent from the following detailed description of the bestmode for carrying out the invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method according to the presentinvention for communicating with an out-of-service telephone number; and

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a system according to the presentinvention for implementing the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As is well known, a telephone number may become non-operational for avariety of reasons ranging from the benign to the more serious. In anyevent, systems incorporating teaching of the present invention provide amethod for communicating with an out-of-service telephone number. Amessage database is provided, as shown at block 10 in FIG. 1. Themessage database may be any conventional storage medium, and isaccessible via telephone, electronic mail (e-mail), and the Internet, asdiscussed more fully below.

A subscriber to the system may access the message database at any timein order to post messages, as shown at block 12. These messages arepreferably in the form of voice or text. In the former case, the voicemessage may be recorded by the system in either analog or digital form.The subscriber may also choose to post a “canned” voice or text messageprerecorded by the system. The posted message, whether recorded by thesubscriber or provided by the system, may indicate for example that thesubscriber is safe. It should be appreciated, of course, that thesubscriber can update or delete his message(s) at any time. Access tothis function is preferably protected, either by a personalidentification number in the case of telephone access or by a passwordin the case of Internet access.

The subscriber may also choose to distribute a message, as indicated bythe block 14 in FIG. 1. This distribution may be by telephone, e-mail,or an Internet page either generally accessible or accessible only withproper authentication such as a password. The subscriber may eitheraccess an existing distribution list which he has previously created,modify such a preexisting distribution list, or create an entirely newdistribution list for a particular occasion. For textual messages, thesedistribution lists preferably contain multiple e-mail addresses. Thesystem may also deliver text messages by telephone to cellulartelephones and pagers enabled to receive them, or to any otherelectronic devices capable of receiving text-based messages. For voicemessages, the distribution lists may simply be telephone numbers thatthe system dials and then plays the subscriber message.

In the absence of or in addition to notification by the system,interested parties may access the system as indicated by the block 16.An interested party may thus dial a general, published telephone numberand navigate a directory in order to find messages left by an individualsubscriber. Alternatively, the subscriber may disseminate a directtelephone number “mailbox” assigned to him, or may more generallypublish his individual direct number. Still another alternative is toroute calls originally placed to the subscriber's out-of-servicetelephone number to the message system. Instead of telephone access, theinterested party may access and navigate a general Internet site, or mayvisit a more personal Internet address or “home page” previouslydisseminated by the subscriber. In any case, the interested party thusgains access to the relevant data in order to check messages left by thesubscriber.

Interested parties may also register for notification when new messagesare posted by a subscriber, as indicated by the block 18. Suchnotification may be by e-mail, voice message or pager, and may be inlieu of or in addition to distribution of the message itself. Thus, asubscriber may choose to allow notice of the posting of a new message toall interested parties, who then must access a restricted access webpage in order to view the message.

The subscriber may review a list of interested parties who read orreceived his messages, as shown by block 20. The subscriber may disable,either generally or in a limited fashion, the ability for others toregister to receive information from the system. Alternatively, thesystem may automatically notify the subscriber of the identity of anyperson who accesses the subscriber's message, as well as the time andother particulars of the access.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment 100 of a system for implementing the presentinvention. The system 100 includes a message database 102 and a servicemanagement system (SMS) 104. The SMS 104 is preferably a UNIX-basedservice of the type commonly found in advanced intelligent networks, butit should be appreciated that any application server adapted for thepurpose of managing the message database may be used. The SMS 104corresponds with an e-mail server 106, an Internet web server 108, andan interactive voice recognition unit (IVRU) 110.

The e-mail server 106 manages e-mail to and from the subscriber's e-mailinterface 112, and also manages e-mail to and from an e-mail interface114 of any given interested party. The web server 108 likewise managesInternet traffic to and from the subscriber's web browser 116, andmanages Internet traffic to and from a web browser 118 of an interestedparty. The IVRU 110 performs a similar function for managing telephonetraffic to and from the telephones 122 and 124, respectively, of thesubscriber and the interested party. In particular, the IVRU 110provides a conventional directory-type, touch-tone prompt interface fortelephone access to the message database 102. An intelligent peripheral126 may also be provided in communication between the IVRU 110 and theSMS 104. In a preferred embodiment, the intelligent peripheral 126provides a speech recognition function. This is particularly useful fortranscribing voice messages from the subscriber into textual messagesfor distribution by the system 100, but the IVRU may also convert textmessages into voice messages for distribution.

The message database 102 and its various servers are preferably locatedat a remote site to minimize the possibility of their physical damage.To further diminish this possibility, the present invention alsocontemplates that two or more synchronized message databases may beseparately located.

Systems incorporating the teachings of the present invention thusprovide a method that allows subscribers to communicate with interestedparties in the event that the subscriber's telephone number isout-of-service. Such systems also provide a method by which interestedparties can obtain information about the subscriber in the event of anemergency or disaster. By allowing both subscribers and interestedparties to access a common database of information via a variety ofdiverse communication systems, the likelihood of being able to send andreceive messages is greatly improved. The present invention alsodecreases the loading on communication systems, by reducing unnecessarytelephone calls that is typical in cases of a widespread disaster.

While specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume manyembodiments other than those specifically set out and described above.Accordingly, the scope of the invention is indicated in the appendedclaims, and all changes that come within the meaning and range ofequivalents are intended to be embraced therein.

1. A method for communicating with a subscriber, the method comprising:determining that the subscriber has a first telephone number that isout-of-service, providing a database that is accessible at least througha second telephone number; allowing the subscriber to access thedatabase to post a message; and making the message available to aninterested party.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the message is avoice message.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the message is anelectronic mail message.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the message isposted through the second telephone number.
 5. The method of claim 1wherein the message is posted via the Internet.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein making the message available comprises distributing the messageto the interested party.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein making themessage available comprises allowing the interested party to retrievethe message.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the interested partyretrieves the message through the second telephone number.
 9. The methodof claim 7 wherein the interested party retrieves the message throughelectronic mail.
 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the interested partyretrieves the message via the Internet.
 11. A method of establishingcommunicating between a subscriber and an interested party, the methodcomprising: determining that the subscriber has a first telephone numberthat is temporarily out-of-service; providing a database that isaccessible at least through a second telephone number; allowing thesubscriber to access the database to post a message; and distributingthe message to the interested party.
 12. The method of claim 11 whereinthe message is a voice message.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein themessage is an electronic mail message.
 14. The method of claim 11wherein the message is posted through the second telephone number. 15.The method of claim 11 wherein the message is posted through theInternet.
 16. A system for a subscriber to communicate with aninterested party, the system comprising: a database that is accessibleat least through a second telephone number, the subscriber having afirst telephone number that is out-of-service; means for allowing thesubscriber to access the database to post a message; and means formaking the message available to the interested party.
 17. The system ofclaim 16 wherein the means for allowing the subscriber scriber to accessthe database comprises a telephone.
 18. The system of claim 16 whereinthe means for allowing the subscriber to access the database comprisesthe Internet.
 19. The system of claim 16 wherein the means for makingthe message available comprises an interactive voice recognition unit.20. The system of claim 16 wherein the means for making the messageavailable comprises the Internet.
 21. The system of claim 16 wherein themeans for making the message available comprises an electronic mailserver.
 22. The system of claim 16 further comprising an intelligentperipheral in communication with the database.